Shiver book trailer and contest by the author

Maggie Stiefvater, author of Shiver is holding a big giveaway of her book shiver. Check out her blog for more details. Here's the book trailer she created! Love it.


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Teaser Tuesdays and a special surprise

Hello all!

Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays, host by MizB at Should Be Reading.

Here is my Teaser today:

Theo wanted to shout at Dr. Saint, tell him this was just another one of his lies. But something held him back - a horrible suspicion that this was the truth, or at least a fragment of the truth.
-p. 257, Candle Man: The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance by Glenn Dakin

And here's a treat for you guys. A video that I did for the 20 Things in 20 days Scavenger Hunt. Learn more about the mystery woman! Well... not much, but yeah.. check it out!


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It's Monday, What are you Reading? June 29th

This Monday meme was created by J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Click on the titles for my reviews/more info.

Read this past week:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (no review)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows (no review)
Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins

Wow, I sure have been lazy this week in my reading.

Currently reading:
Candle Man: The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance by Glenn Dakin (ARC)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (audiobook)
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

Upcoming:
Graceling by Kristin Cashmore
Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal by Mal Peet
Pandora Gets Vain by Carolyn Hennessy
The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
Stargazer by Claudia Gray
The Musician's Daughter by Susanne Dunlap

Probably won't get through all of those, but I'll try!

Thanks for stopping by! I should hopefully finish Candle Man and maybe The Book Thief today, so look out for those reviews later.
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In My Mailbox - June 28th

In My Mailbox is hosted by the lovely and wonderful Story Siren.


So I had only those three books up above for this week, but then I went to the library yesterday and well.. yeah. I'm sure you can all imagine me in the new book section squealing gleefully with my finds.

The book I'm most proud of acquiring this week is Candle Man: The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance by Glenn Dakin. I actually was contacted on Goodreads from a marketing person to see if I wanted an ARC copy of this book - they had seen it was on my to-be-read bookshelf. And well, I'd never turn down a free book. :)

From the back cover:

A spine-tingling adventure with a steampunk flavor about a lonely boy, his butler, the deaf maid, and a guardian who just may or may not be evil... Theo can never leave hsi room at Empire Hall. He receives painful treatments to control his illness and must wear special gloves for a mysterious reason. Completely cut off from the outside world, Theo yearns to find a way to escape. When he discovers the story of Lord Wickland, the scourge of the underworld, he learns that his special illness may be a gift in disguise. Following the Candle Man's trail, Theo learns that he is destined for great things outside of Empire Hall. Molded in the great tradition of Percy Jack and Septimus Heap, The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance is the first volume of a thriller trilogy with a steampunk flavor from author Glenn Dakin.

The other two books I got from the library:

Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson (4th book in the 39 Clues series)
Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog

And here's all the books I got yesterday from the library as well:



The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby
Fate by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (click the link and you'll get the whole book version from google books)
Dull Boy by Sarah Cross
Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott
Silver Pheonix by Cindy Pon

Lots of great books this week.

I also finally signed up for summer reading (actually I'm cheating and doing two libraries bwhahaha) and I got this for signing up:



I have no clue what it is. It has a beaker thing in the middle. It looks like you put it on the wall or something? Maybe a bird-feeder? I have no clue...

If you have any ideas, please tell me!

Thanks for tuning in!
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Behind again

So, I think blogging is sucking away my reading time. Which is semi-okay, I'm off for the summer (except for an easy night job) and I've been reading like a fiend anyways.

I am almost done listening to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (gearing up for the movie!) and I've been cleaning like crazy.

But, while blogging, I've come across Sarah Rees Brennan's livejournal. She's going to be posting some short stories that deal with the world from which The Demon's Lexicon takes place. If you spread the word about these stories, you can win some great stuff.

I haven't read her book yet, but it's on my shelf and I'll probably be starting it up when I finish a few of the books I'm already currently reading. So check out her short stories!
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Kreativ Blogger Award!

Wowzers! I want to thank Bloody Bookaholic for nominating me for this award.

Here's the rules for this award: If you accept it, you are supposed to list seven of your favorite things and nominate seven blogs that deserve this award.

So here I go!

Seven favorite things:
1. My laptop - couldn't live without my baby
2. The library - would be broke without it
3. Evony.com - coolest free strategy game online
4. Audiobooks - the only incentive for me to clean
5. hulu.com - because I don't have cable
6. Netflix - for the anime I need
7. My many bookshelves - to hold all my marvelous books


And here is who I nominated:
1. A Lush Budget Production
2. The Book Butterfly
3. The Shady Glade
4. Wondrous Reads
5. The Little Bookworm
6. So Many Books, So Little Time
7. GreenBean TeenQueen


It was hard to just pick 7 - I love all the blogs I follow, but these are my top faves.

Alright, now to go and move furniture for about 30 minutes.

Tune in later for my In My Mailbox.
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Nothing But Ghosts Book Drive

Check this out!


This is a great and awesome book drive that MyFriendAmy is doing on her blog. See her blog for more details on how you can support this awesome YA author and what kind of prizes you'll be entered to win if you do!

I don't buy a lot of books, but since Amy is putting so much effort into this, I did purchase a copy to keep the drive going. Please check this out!
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The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth
by Carrie Ryan

In Mary's world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect and serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

I finished this book two nights ago and was really too stunned to write a review for it. This book read like a zombie movie. You were scared, you were desperate, and you were hopeful - along with Mary.

I'm still trying to understand Mary as a character, because she has two brother vying for her attention, but all she cares about is seeing the ocean again. The girl is never satisfied and always curious. I pondered this book for a day or so now and have tried to put myself in her shoes. How would you act if surrounded by Unconsecrated day and night, having to listen to their moans. I can't blame the girl for wanting to dream about a place where they can't touch her life.


5/5 roses






Check out this book trailer, very spooky!



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Friday Finds - June 26th

Friday finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

I'm always looking for new books to read and here's a ton that I discovered this past week. Click the titles or covers to learn more about each one.

On Viney's Mountain by Joan Donaldson
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell




Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, Red Dice by Christopher Pike
A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines




Gifted: Out of Sight, Out of Mind by Marilyn Kaye
The Everafter by Amy Huntley
The Keepers' Daughter by Gill Arbuthnott




Troubadour by Mary Hoffman
The Fire Thief by Terry Deary
Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough




Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn
Lady Macbeth's Daughter by Lisa Klein
The Plague by Joanne Dahme




The Wild Things by Dave Eggers
Malice by Chris Wooding
Blood Ninja by Nick Lake

Wowzers, more than I thought! No wonder I'm not getting my list of books to be read down!

Thanks for tuning in!

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Waiting on Wednesdays - Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Here's my pick for the week:



Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie
by Maggie Stiefvater
Due out: October 2009

Nuala is part muse, part psychic vampire. While the freedom to sing or write or create is denied her, her mark across history is unmistakable: a trail of brilliant poets, musicians, and artists who have died tragically young. She has no sympathy for their abbreviated life spans; every thirteen Halloweens she burns in a bonfire and rises from her ashes with no memories of what has come before other than the knowledge of how her end will come.

James is the best bagpiper in the state of Virginia—maybe in the country—plus he's young and good-looking: just Nuala's thing. But James, supremely confident in his own abilities and in love with another girl, becomes the first to ever reject Nuala's offer. He's preoccupied with bigger things than Nuala: an enigmatic horned figure who appears at dusk and the downward spiral of Dee, his girlfriend-who-isn't.

It becomes obvious to James that Nuala's presence, the horned king of the dead, and Dee's slow self-destruction are all related, and that Dee is the center of a deadly faerie game. While James struggles to unwind the tangled threads of the story, Nuala shadows him, seeing her conflicted, dual nature reflected back at her in him. She finds herself lending him inspiration for nothing. Not quite for nothing—for the hope of requited affection. But even as James begins to realize his feelings for both Dee and Nuala have changed, the thirteenth Halloween descends, with its bonfires and rituals for the dead, one deadly to Nuala and the other to Dee. James can only save one.

After having just read Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception last week, I'm dying for more of the world of fae Stiefvater has created for her readers. And doesn't the cover look amazing?
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Libraries and Why They ROCK!

Having worked in three different types of libraries, I always think about what is so great about libraries. So, I figured I'd share why different libraries rock for different reasons.
Academic Libraries (Universities, Colleges, etc..)

• Space - there's a place to research, to take a nap, and to use a computer (for research or fun reasons)
  
• Quality - most of their reference librarians are teachers, making them usually easier to approach and you really learn how to use the library from them
• Media - we're talking databases galore, old microfilm and microfiche, computers and viewing equipment for movies and dvds
• Books - What's a library without books? You've got some popular materials, but lots of great research and nonfiction material.

School Media Centers

• Change - with new research and new education, you actually learn how to use a library at a young age. There's now online databases, books on IPods and playaways, and always a small array of computers for the random student to use.
• Teachers as librarians - they know they're stuff and they love kids.. they're perfect for this type of library
• Books - kids need to keep reading while growing up, having displays around the library gets them interested.
• Programs - book clubs, reading programs, and more!
  

Public Libraries

• Programs - I absolutely love love love the summer reading program - there's prizes galore. There's a lot more too - computer programs, book programs, and for all ages.
• Materials - There's books, popular movies, audiobooks, ebooks, and more! I know some that also check out IPod shuffles.
• Databases - This is where I hit up NoveList when I can't figure out what to read or if I'm trying to remember a title from long ago.
  
• FREE! You save so much money by using a public library instead of buying your books, dvds, and audiobooks. See how much you could save HERE.

My basic synopsis - libraries rock, wherever you may be using one - a high school library, public library or college library.
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Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are mine:

I felt happy, imagining James and Mitch having fun together, but when he looked back into my eyes, the light still flicked over his features like the twin sides in a stereoscopic picture, one image slightly different from the other. My James and the James who came before, both hiding behind Billy's eyes.
-p. 201 A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

We are alone in a house that could have existed before the Return and could exist after. It exists in a time that is normal and not burdened by death and survival and fear.
-p. 197 The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan


Thanks for tuning in!
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Mates, Dates and Inflatable Bras

Mates, Dates and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins

A turning point is exactly what Lucy Loverling does NOT want. Everything is changing around her, and suddenly she has to make all sorts of decisions. Everyone else knows who and what she wants to be except her. Izzie has become friends with the glamorous Nesta, and Lucy isn't certain she likes a threesome. Nesta and Izzie look sixteen, but Lucy, at fourteen, can still pass for a twelve-year-old.

But then one day Lucy sees the most wonderful boy crossing the street, and things do start to change -- in all areas of her life...

I do admit I guiltily enjoyed this book. I really became Lucy while reading this book, insecure, life full of changes. I gotta say though, things aren't as bad as she makes her life out to be. I love the language of this book - the very British slang especially.

If you want a quick, fun read - read this.


5 out of 5 roses
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Win both The Summoning and The Awakening

I have officially become a contest-maniac. It's turning me into a zombie. But... I ran into a great contest.

Escape In a Book is holding a contest to win both of Armstrong's books - both used, but hey - who doesn't want free books!?

I haven't read them yet, but I hear they're amazing. Check it out!
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Check out this awesome contest!

I have to say, this may be the best contest I've seen. You can win one of these 21 books. No joke. There's a ton of choices here!

Either click the link below or the picture above for more info and how to win!

Books By Their Cover
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Eternal

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight.

Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess’s personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl’s soul and plan the Master’s fast-approaching Death Day gala.

I have to say I was impressed with this book. I liked the way the female character was never completely good. Miranda is turned against her will into the princess of the vampires, but before her old guardian angel Zachary (now fallen for trying to save her) showed up on the doorstep of her castle, she wasn't completely unhappy with the arrangement. I mean, the girl is treated like royalty after all...

Unfortunately, he reminds her of her human self - she starts reflecting on when she was human and finds herself meeting him halfway on the issue of blood - drinking cow and pig blood instead of human.

Of course, Daddy dearest - the Dracul - isn't pleased at all when he comes back from his supposed tour of the country.

But who will triumph over the Princess - her shining angel or the master and father of her vampire life?

I couldn't put this down yesterday. In fact, I read through Tropic Thunder while my fiance and I were at the soon-to-be-in-laws for dinner and movie time. And although I loved it, I was a little disappointed by the ending.



4 out of 5 roses
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It's Monday, What are you Reading? June 22nd

This Monday meme was created by J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Click the titles for my reviews or more info.

Read this past week:

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Raven by Allison Van Diepen
Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones
The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Neptune's Children by Bonnie Dobkin
Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith (just finished this morning, will review later)

Currently reading:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Upcoming:

Graceling by Kristin Cashmore
Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal by Mal Peet
Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan


Since some of those are long books, I'm not going to assume I'll finish more than that. :) Thanks for tuning in!


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Neptune's Children

From the author's website:
A day at the fabled amusement park Isles of Wonder turns deadly when a worldwide biological attack kills every adult, leaving behind only the kids to fend for themselves. Isolated from the world, unsure of what lies ahead, the young survivors assemble under the statue of King Neptune, the mythical ruler of the Isles, to form a new society. Led by the children of the park workers,they choose to remain closed off from the outside world living relatively comfortably inside the self-contained park. But when violence from the infected outside world appears to infiltrate their safe zone, one small group discovers a secret society and a hidden system of underground tunnels, and the stage is set for a war that will determine the future of everyone on the Isles.

While reading this book I was reminded a bit of Lord of the Flies, only amusement park style. What also came to mind was the graphic novel series Y: The Last Man (in which all men but one die of a plague).

You follow this story through Josh - a boy whose little sister Maddie has overcome a bad illness and is going to live. They soon find their parents and older sister dying, along with all the other adults. Right off the bat, he talks to a girl named Zoe who has a little brother named Sam.

Things are chaotic, kids just hanging around, sobbing, toddlers and babies with no parents to take care of them. Then a boy finds the speaker system and, through Neptune's voice, gathers the children together.

They start to get organized and Josh becomes part of a core group of a kid government, only it soon turns into a power trip for the leader - Milo. Josh is torn between his relationship with Zoe and staying with the group, but ultimately ends up with Zoe.

A year passes, things seem organized and together, when suddenly the outside world seems to have a spark again. They were too worried to travel out before, not knowing what it would be like - crime wise and disease-wise. Only, Milo doesn't want to lose power, but relents to sending out scouts to figure out what is out there.

The question is how far is Milo willing to go to keep his power and how will Zoe and Josh be able to stop him?

I just ate this book up. There was political intrigue, relationship issues, and of course great sci-fi elements with the plague occurring and the reactions to it. A great read and really makes you realize how much living in an amusement park wouldn't be your greatest dream granted.

5/5 Roses

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Help me pick my new rating image!

I've made 4 and I can't decide which I like the best, so please help me by voting on one!

1.

2.

3.

4.

Thanks! Once I get this all settled, I can have no excuse for posting more updates :).
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A Northern Light

It is 1906 and Mattie Gokey is trying to learn how to stand up like a man -- even though she’s a sixteen-year-old girl. At her summer job at a resort on Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack mountains, she will earn enough money to make something of her life.

That money could be a dowry to wed the handsome but dull Royal Loomis. It could save her father’s brokeback farm. Or it might buy her a train ticket to New York City and college and a life that she can barely allow herself to imagine.

But Mattie’s worries and plans are cast into a cold light when the drowned body of Grace Brown turns up – a young woman who gave Mattie a packet of love letters, letters that convince Mattie that the drowning was no accident.

Inspired by the sensational Chester Gillette murder case of 1906, which was also the basis for Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy and the film A Place in the Sun, this story evokes novels such as To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Women, and other classics that hark back to times of lost innocence.


I really loved this book. I listened to it on audio - which really put me into the setting and the voice of Mattie. There is so much to this story. Mattie wants more out of her, she has a knack for writing and is the first one in her family to get a high school diploma. But with her mother gone, her family needs help taking care of their land. Also, lingering in the distance, is the promise that Mattie gave to her mother to stay with the family.

Her dream is to go to New York, to go to college there and study to become a writer.

Enter another dilemma - Royal - a handsome young man that seems to be smitten with her and eventually makes his intentions known that he means to have her for a wife. And who can't fall in love with the most handsome, suave guy around? Is this the life for Mattie though?

I love how there's so much going on, add in the curious love letters and the mystery surrounding a young woman's drowning and you've got a killer novel.

I felt like my head was in the clouds after reading this. I loved the romance, tragedy, and wonderful characters in this novel.

5/5 Roses (Review Icon being worked on!)
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Blogietsa Finishing Line

Hello all!

So after 14 hours of working on my blog I've done the following!

• Finished ALL the mini-challenges
• Due to those challenges:
• Cleaned up my feeds/reader/folders on Google Reader
• Made a back-up post for a rainy day using a list post where I talked about how awesome libraries are (see my blog on a later, rainy day for that post)
• Added at least 20 more blogs to follow and commented at least 40 - 50 times total.
  
• Set up a google alert for my blog and young adult book blogs
• Came up with an elevator pitch, which I used to help revamp my about and later on use in meta data
• Added my blog to some lists YA Blagosphere and YA Book Blog Directory
  
• Changed my background, updated links, made my blog reviews look nicer, reformatted pictures, changed my layout, added a few widgets, and much more
• Made a book blogging buddy and actually we spend like two hours chatting about our blogs last night while we worked on ours. http://bookingthrough365.blogspot.com/
  
• Got a flavicon and gravatar woot!
• Anchored text correctly :) Had to go and change a bunch of stuff on my old blogs!
  
• Read a bazillion articles (or so it seemed) on improving my blog and found myself rewriting some old blogs so they were more well-written.
• Got my site graded - a 36 to begin with and worked for a few hours on meta data and a billion other things (still don't completely understand certain parts...) and raised my score to a 55.

I really had a ton of fun doing this and learned buttloads. As a newer blogger, I didn't know a lot of the stuff discussed and was glad to go about fixing what needed to be fixed. I didn't really expect to spend more than 8 hours on the blog and was surprised when I had clocked 14 - by then my head was aching and my TBR pile was glaring at me in disgust.

Which now reminds me that I have two book reviews to post. :)

A blogger's job is never done.
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In My Mailbox - June 21st

In My Mailbox is hosted by the lovely and wonderful Story Siren.

I didn't get much this week, because I'm seriously backlogged in my library books, I think I have two bookshelves worth still to read! Just the one book this week:


The Princess Bride is a true fantasy classic. William Goldman describes it as a "good parts version" of "S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure." Morgenstern's original was filled with details of Florinese history, court etiquette, and Mrs. Morgenstern's mostly complimentary views of the text. Much admired by academics, the "Classic Tale" nonetheless obscured what Mr. Goldman feels is a story that has everything: "Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles."

Goldman frames the fairy tale with an "autobiographical" story: his father, who came from Florin, abridged the book as he read it to his son. Now, Goldman is publishing an abridged version, interspersed with comments on the parts he cut out.

Is The Princess Bride a critique of classics like Ivanhoe and The Three Musketeers, that smother a ripping yarn under elaborate prose? A wry look at the differences between fairy tales and real life? Simply a funny, frenetic adventure? No matter how you read it, you'll put it on your "keeper" shelf.



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Blogiesta Update 4

Alright, another three more hours put into the blog and my brain is wasting away.

What did I learn?

• Mini challenges are not always mini
• Meta data = good, figuring out the coding to make it work = evil
• Anchors away matey - link the title, not just random words or click here
• Billions of things about blogging - the most potent of which is that readers like reading well-written material.
  
• More websites to put myself out there - digg.com, technorati.com
• Email subscriptions! Easy cheesy, couldn't believe it.
  

Alright, I think I may be giving up now.

Total clockage: 14 hours

Probably not a lot compared to the rest of y'all, but I think that's some serious time there. Does my blog look prettier? Yes. Did I learn a ton? Hell yeah.

If I get overzealous I may be back after a nap...
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Blogiesta Update 3

Alright, I haven't spent as much time today on my blog as I would've liked.

Probably only clocked about 3 hours more.

And what have I done?

• Made a blog buddy! (G)Emma Who actually is the reason I started this blog in the first place. I saw her blog when she posted on one of my groups on goodreads and well, I started one and she was my first follower! :) Although, I did just realize my new template matches hers - oh well. I'm not changing it for another month probably.
  
• Gravatar and favicon - got both now! :) I made them the same for now, because I couldn't figure out anything else I liked. I may be fickle later about them today or next week and change at least one.

I also finished listening to a book on CD on my errands this morning.. so there'll be a review later on - when I rehydrate (it's stinkin' hot out and I just moved in a new bookshelf) and look into the last few mini-challenges.
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Blogiesta Update 2

Alright, I now have clocked 8 and 1/2 hours total so far. If you haven't been to my blog before, you won't notice the drastic changes, but here's what I've been doing:

• Whole new background/layout - this took forever to find/research/like/work, etc.
  
• Mini-Challenges - I had finished three last time and now I've finished four more! I have to wait on the blog buddy for a response and I didn't feel like looking at any more downloading/searching right now.
• Posted a new review! (yes, I have managed to get some reading done even with all this blogging)

So, I managed to eat all three meals today, read a book, and even go out for ice cream with my fiance. I feel very accomplished. Blogging can be a full day's work eh?

I think this is it for me for tonight. I get up early Saturdays to work out and go to Weight Watchers, so I'll be back to blogging after that. G'night and G'luck!
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The King's Rose

Catherine Howard is to be King Henry's newest bride. Only 15 years old, she has caught the eye of the King just after he has sentenced and executed his last wife - Anne Boleyn.

But Catherine has a dark past and is not the virgin wife that Henry is expecting. She plays her part, but, as we know from history, she is doomed to fail him.

I love the insight this book gives into how Catherine may really have been. She was barely a young woman when she wed King Henry and she already had a history of a past lover and a potential engagement to her cousin. But one does not turn down the King. Her family assures her that if she burns the past, it will not come to light.

Unfortunately, they are wrong. She sins before and during her marriage to Henry and, while reading this, you start to understand just how much of a child she really is - how much she doesn't really know what she is doing.

I love the romance in this. The character that Libby portrayed in this novel is a girl just coming into her age and not expecting at all the turn of events that lead her into becoming Queen of England. I really ate this book up, the romantic and political intrigue of the royal family and court life thrilled me to no end.

If you love historical fiction, romance and royal families, you'll love this novel.

4/5 Roses
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Blogiesta Update 1

Wowzers!

I think I've been on my computer for about 6 hours now working on blog stuff. Egads!

I've completed the first three mini challenges:

• I learned how to make folders and went through my feeds.
• I made a back-up post about how awesome libraries are.
  
• I just finished finding 10 new blogs, commenting, adding them to my feeds and then making more folders to organize them!
  
• I posted a blog early today that took me an hour or two to do with pictures, links, and all.
  

Alright. Time for a much needed break.
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Blogiesta!

Meet Pedro!
Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize.

I'm joining on the blogiesta, set up by the darling Maw and inspiring me to delve deep into my blog and log some serious hours into it.

See here for more details!

I'm going to check out some of the challenges, but my main goals are listed below.

1. Cleaning up my layout
I don't mind my layout right now, but it's time to experiment and work on the heading and sidebars.

2. Gravatar?
Figure out what this is and possibly get one.

3. Pictures, etc.
I'm going to play on photobucket and create some new stuff to appeal more to any readers I have.

And much more. I'm sure this will lead me to a billion other things dealing with my blog.

I've spent about two hours already this morning on ironing out my latest post.

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Friday Finds

Friday finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

I'm always looking for new books to read and here's a ton that I discovered this past week. Click the titles or covers to learn more about each one.

Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan
Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott
The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
Magic Under Glass by Jackie Dolamore
Night Runner by Max Turner

Taragam by Jack W. Regan
The School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Schrefer
Oblivion Road by Alex McAulay

Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters
Troy High by Shana Norris
Selina Penaluna by Jan Page




The Thornthwaite Inheritance by Gareth P. Jones
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
The Pale Assassin by Patricia Elliot



Violet Wings by Victoria Hanley
Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri
Undone by Brooke Taylor

And now I know why my TBR list is humongous! :) So many books, so little time.

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